Review | By Richard Allen / a closer listen
Sound of the Wetlands | Various artists
This collection is so good that it may make prompt a move to the wetlands. The double album is the result of a SoundLapse project which united composers and field recording artists from Valdivia (Chile) and London, sharing sounds captured at the Valdivian wetlands and at the London Wetland Centre. The approaches are exciting and diverse, a cornucopia of sounds both natural and musical. Gruenrekorder’s extensive liner notes provide essential context, enhancing the experience. When the album has ended, one immediately wants to play it again.
The first disc is more field recording dominant, and begins with Felipe Otondo and Natán Ide Pizarro‘s “Oncal Mix,” an entire day of rainforest recordings distilled into six minutes. This leads to incredible dynamic contrast, as the timbres change far more rapidly than they would in real time, and the wind and waves share sonic space with the birds. Julia Schauerman combines hydrophone and above-water recordings to disorienting effect; passing planes become characters in the ongoing play, seeming to spark irritated responses from the denizens below. […]